


A Little Crazy

by sociologize



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Indulgent nonsense, M/M, Past Finn Balor/Seth Rollins, i don't know what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 05:10:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16079117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sociologize/pseuds/sociologize
Summary: "You've got a type, man.""I - what?"  Seth was about to return to his lunch, waiting patiently for him on the table and barely untouched, but the comment is so out of left field that his food is completely forgotten in an instant.  He turns to look at Roman, eyebrows furrowed.  "What?""I said, you've got a type."  Roman repeats, eyebrows raised."What's that supposed to mean?"  Seth demands, eyes narrowed.(Seth Rollins does not have A Type, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary.)





	A Little Crazy

**Author's Note:**

> You know how you're having a conversation, and then someone makes a comment, and then you're discussing it in depth, and then you vomit out a few thousand words?
> 
> Yeah. That's what this is. This is super, stupidly indulgent and I make no excuses.

" _ Look, _ " Dean insists, gesturing with a french fry.  "If  _ any _ of these places are haunted it's  _ this _ one.  I was reading about it last night --"

"We really gotta monitor what you're reading before bed."  Roman mutters as he drinks his coffee, and Seth hides a snicker behind his phone.

"-- and  _ fuck you _ Roman, that's why."  Dean finishes, as if that was the actual basis of his argument and sits back, shoving the french fry in his mouth with a huff.

"We've been here a million times and I've never seen a ghost."  Seth offers, putting his phone down to focus on his lunch. At Dean's scoff, he continues.  "I mean it. I've been all over this place, not a single one."

"That's 'cause like, you don't  _ believe _ and shit."  Dean retorts and Seth rolls his eyes.  "Oh, of course."

"The only scary thing you're going to run into around here is Bray Wyatt."  Roman puts his coffee down and sits back in his chair to cross his arms, grinning across the table at Dean's disgusted look.  "Maybe he'll hunt ghosts with you."

"There you go."  Seth adds with a straight face.  "He's hanging around with Matt Hardy now, right?  Maybe they'll both join you."

"I hate you both."  Dean spits with no venom as the other two laugh.  He shoves a few more fries into his mouth and gets up from his seat, stretching his arms over his head for a moment before he's leaning on the table, pointing fiercely at both his brothers.  "It isn't  _ hunting ghosts _ , by the way, it's just - lookin' around for the hell of it, and if I  _ happen into a ghost _ then it's whatever, but if you're too chicken to come with, I get it - "

"Mmhmm."  Roman rumbles in response, not rising to the obvious bait.  

" - and you can sit your ass here in catering eating whatever while I go kill some time."  Scooping up his phone, Dean shoves it in his pocket and rounds the table, purposely messing with Seth's hair as he goes.  Seth sputters indignantly, and Dean leans in to steal a kiss before he's off, a jaunty way over his shoulder as he disappears around the doorframe, leaving Roman and Seth to their own devices.

"We  _ really _ need to keep an eye on whatever the hell he's reading at night."  Roman repeats, this time with a laugh. Seth makes a noise of agreement as he tries to fix his hair but he's smiling, still watching the doorway Dean disappeared out of.

"Crazy idiot."  Seth says fondly, and Roman shakes his head.

"You've got a type, man."

"I - what?"  Seth was about to return to his lunch, waiting patiently for him on the table and barely untouched, but the comment is so out of left field that his food is completely forgotten in an instant.  He turns to look at Roman, eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"I said, you've got a type."  Roman repeats, eyebrows raised.

"What's that supposed to mean?"  Seth demands, eyes narrowed.

He was pretty sure he had no idea what Roman was talking about, and he was pretty sure he didn't want to know, either, even if he was demanding an answer.  Sure, things were good -  _ great _ , even - between all three of them since they'd reunited, but there was still a gray area when it came to certain things, especially when it came to things they'd tease each other about, and this was one of those areas.  Being on RAW with Roman since the brand split meant the Samoan was privy to things Dean hadn't been at first, and Seth could feel that this teasing was veering into that territory. Territory that was still a little shaky, uncertain, and sometimes still hurt to think back on.

Roman, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have the same reservations as Seth - at least, not today.  He picks up his coffee and takes a long, thoughtful sip, eyes trained on his little brother before he shrugs.  "You like them older and a little crazy." He answers, as easily as if he'd announced the sky was blue. "Ain't nothing wrong with that.  But I'm just saying, Dean isn't the first, so you've got a type."

Was he - ?  He was. Roman was absolutely going there.

Wait.

"Finn isn't crazy."  Seth protests, the indignant tone of his voice making it go a little more high-pitched.  That didn't argue the first part of Roman's observation, but he really didn't have an argument for that.  "He's - perfectly in his right mind. Where do you get "crazy" from?"

It isn't often that a look can make Seth feel a little stupid, but Roman is a master of giving out those kinds of looks  It must come from being a dad and having to deal with teammates like him and Dean all the time, but the way he leans back and raises both eyebrows and just  _ looks _ at Seth - yeah, he feels kind of dumb.  He's been on the end of this look before, the one that says  _ boy, are you serious? _  "The man is possessed by a demon."

"So?"

"A demon he controls."

" _ So? _ "

"That doesn't sound a little crazy to you?"

Seth refuses to think that it sounds a little crazy.  "No, it doesn't." He lies, and he's lying to win a stupid argument Roman didn't even bring up as an argument, and Roman knows he's lying and why are they even arguing about this in the first place?   
Oh right, because Roman thinks he has a  _ type _ and he  _ doesn't _ .

"Okay."  Roman hums, allowing the lie for now.  Thank whatever higher power was out there looking down right now.  "Then what about the way he smiles, huh? No one in their right mind smiles  _ that  _ much, the way he does."  Dammit, he had more evidence.

Seth was thankful catering was empty at this hour, because he had to look ridiculous, blurting out answers like he was desperate to win this stupid - conversation.  Conversation, it wasn't an argument. "He's just happy!" 

It dawns on him that he's also sitting there defending his ex's smiles and sanity to his current boyfriend's best friend, and he kind of wants the ground to open up and swallow him whole.  Just a little.

But Roman's grinning, and it's that grin where he's thoroughly enjoying giving his little brother shit, because it's rare that it's Roman dishing it out and not Dean or Seth or both being pains in his ass.  "All right, all right, he's "just happy". If that's what you want to believe." He's being placating and Seth grits his teeth. 

He is  _ not _ going to punch Roman in the middle of catering.  He's not. " _ Thank _ you."

Roman looks thoughtful again, eyeing Seth like he's thinking of something else to say, and Seth tenses, wary.  Roman never left things like this go without one last parting shot, because he was the big brother and had to get the last word in, whether it was one last jab or an apology to smooth things over or - 

"Jimmy Jacobs."  A kill shot. Today, it's the kill shot.

He is  _ so done _ with this.  Throwing his hands in the air Seth gets to his feet, the chair scraping against the floor in his haste.  "All right, smartass, that's it, I'm leaving!" He gathers up his belongings and leaves behind his half-finished lunch, and ignores Roman's loud, rumbling laughter as it follows Seth all the way out of catering and down the hallway as he stomps away.

 

Seth hadn't been lying when he'd said he had other things to do, but that hadn't filled up the rest of his afternoon and now he was left with time to think.  Normally that was fine; it left him time to plan out strategies, study opponents, hang out with the few other friends he had - but today was different, and free time to think is dangerous.  With Roman planting the seeds to this - this  _ stupid thing _ in his head that he has some sort of -  _ inclination _ towards certain people, it's the only thing he can think about.  It's taken root in his brain and without any other distractions, Seth finds himself sitting on top of some equipment boxes in the hallway instead of making his way to one of the locker rooms.

Why can't he stop thinking about it?  For something so stupid - and he can't emphasize  _ how stupid _ it is, for real, it's the dumbest thing he's ever heard - no matter how he tries to turn his mind to something else, it keeps circling back.  Not that he really wants to consider that maybe there's a tiny bit of truth to it - because there  _ isn't  _ \- but maybe there's . . . something.  What that something is, he isn't sure.  Maybe it's less that he has a type and more that he was into certain things?

But that doesn't make sense either.  Dean Ambrose and Finn Balor are two very,  _ very _ different people.  So was Jimmy Jacobs, but he had been a lifetime and another name ago, and there had been plenty of people in between him and the two he was thinking about now.  Sane people. People who didn't fit into - whatever this is. This not thing he was trying not to consider too hard.

(And damn it all, he's going to get Roman back for this somehow.  He's going to convince Dean to team up against the big guy later and somehow do it without telling him why.)

But there it is, a crack in Roman's statement already; Dean and Finn are nothing alike.

Dean's . . . unhinged, manic energy; a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode.  Point him in a direction, give him a target, and he went at it with an unrivaled, single-minded focus that was both frightening and impressive, and Seth knew that  _ personally _ .  He was sharp edges and even sharper words, a dangerous man with his fists and god forbid, a weapon in his hand.  "Crazy" was a compliment and a statement and the furthest from an insult, something he wore like a badge, and it was obvious in every action, every jerky movement, every punch, every suplex and Dirty Deeds - 

Even if Seth knows, beneath all of that, is someone a little softer, a little gentler than the cameras see.  Worn by time and love and care (and once hurt deeply, had his heart shattered and repaired more than once) and lets Seth diffuse all that manic energy, grounds Dean when he needs it.

Finn, on the other hand . . . Seth hasn't known Finn as long as he'd known Dean, sure, but he'd gotten to know him fairly well over the last couple of years, and in the time they were together.  Where Dean was hard and rough, Finn was - not softer, but gentler. If Dean was a ticking bomb, Finn was a pot of slow, boiling water. It wasn't a question of if the demon would make an appearance but  _ when _ , and while Finn's control over him was in and of itself something to behold - and not just  _ anyone _ got to see that that, only those like Seth who were allowed that close - sometimes the pot got to a point where it boiled over.  Sometimes Finn let it. Sometimes Finn  _ made _ it.

Both men were fantastic wrestlers and neither would hesitate to put their bodies on the line, but Finn went about it in a different way, not prone to the same violence as Dean was.  He was calmer, more precise, far less inclined to the outbursts Dean was known for. Finn was unnervingly calm in the face of things that many others would snap at, letting it wash off his shoulders with a smile and a shrug.  

And that was just Finn.  The demon . . . Seth shivers a little.

Seth's encounters with the demon were far and few inbetween, their match at Summerslam being the most well-known.  But there had been a couple of times after that, outside of the ring, and Seth knew he was always there, lurking behind Finn.  Lurking and always,  _ always _ watching.  Sometimes Seth wouldn't notice, but other times it was so hard to ignore, when Finn was pressed so close above him and Seth felt like he was staring up at two people instead of one, a gentle hand on his side, fingers skirting up his ribs and the other suddenly tight, painfully so, in his hair -- 

"Oh my  _ god _ ."  Seth groans out loud, rubbing his face with both hands, quick and violent.

He can't believe he's giving this so much thought.  He can't believe that a stupid, off-hand comment from Roman is making him psychoanalyze his damn relationships.  He ignores the curious looks a few of the stage hands give him as they pass by and flops backwards, letting his legs dangle over the end of the boxes.

This was so stupid.  This was so ridiculous.

He was  _ definitely _ going to get revenge on Roman for this.

 

After spending way too long losing his damn mind thinking about this - and putting a full damn stop on letting it turn to psychoanalyzing  _ himself _ because like hell was that something he was going to do, no sir - Seth finally decides he has no choice but to get an outsider's opinion.  Which is probably a really stupid idea, but this whole thing is already stupid, right? And it can't get much stupider. And normally he wouldn't, but this was really eating at him and if he didn't bite this in the ass  _ now _ it'd bother him for the rest of the day Roman would  _ know  _ as soon as they met up again.  Roman would know, 'cuz of his freaky dad powers or big brother powers or both.  And Seth couldn't allow that.

There weren't too many people Seth trusted to bring such a delicate topic to, though, so he was glad that when he finally drags himself off the boxes and starts looking around, he runs into Sasha and Bayley down the hallway, not too far from where he'd been hiding - hanging out.  (He wasn't hiding, dammit). They were both close enough that he considered them friends, and it went the other way around; it wasn't as if either of them hadn't come to him with their problems before. He doesn't feel  _ comfortable _ about it, but then again, Seth never feels comfortable admitting to anything bothering him.  He's a prideful, stubborn type of guy, sue him.

"Hey girls."  He greets when he gets close, and grins when Bayley immediately wraps him up in a hug, followed by Sasha.  Today is one of those rare days where a lot of the superstars have free time before the show, and it isn't often any of them have the time to stand around, so he's happy to catch up with them and make small talk, about what they've been up to and their matches and whatever else.  It's been a while anyway; the last time he's really had a chance to talk to either of them like this had been when Xavier had still be on the red brand and they were all piled into a room together, screaming and laughing while playing video games.

(He makes a mental note, that if this gets completely out of hand, to give Woods a call and ask his opinion on all this.  If it gets out of hand or he gets desperate.)

As the conversation winds down Seth finally gears himself up to ask, takes a deep breath and just - goes for it.  Or else he'll talk himself out of it and that can't happen. "I kind of wanted to ask you two something - personal?  Sort of." He winces, because it's already going exactly the way he didn't want it to go. "Kind of."

"Personal?"  Bayley repeats with a tilt of her head.

"Kind of."  He says again and at Sasha's wordless gesture to go on, he continues.  "Just - I just want you to answer honestly, that's all. Don't humor me or anything, all right?"   
"I wouldn't humor you."  Bayley looks confused and a little offended at the thought, but Sasha rolls her eyes.  "You  _ would _ and you know it."

But instead of shooting back at her, Bayley and Sasha both turn to him expectantly and he swallows.  All right, here goes nothing.

"Do you two think I have - a type?"  At their blank looks he makes a face and looks upwards, trying to find strength in the rafters of the ceiling above them.  After a moment, he elaborates. "I know it sounds weird, but I'm trying to - look, Roman brought it up, he said I have a type, and I just - wanted to know what other people think.  So I thought I'd ask you two."

He's a little proud of himself for saying it without an ounce of bias in the explanation.  He didn't say Roman was stupid or wrong once.

"Define "type"."  Seth looks down as Sasha asks, and her lips are twitching, as if she's trying not to smile and already knows the answer to the question, and wants him to say it.  Sasha was a lot like Roman in some ways, in that she liked to give everyone shit whenever possible, tease them mercilessly when she saw her chance, and Seth  _ knew _ this was giving her weeks worth of ammunition, but - 

He needs to  _ know _ , dammit.

"Uh, like - Roman's words were - " He could feel the flush crawling up the back of his neck, oh god.  "Older and a little crazy. Er, more or less."

He's met with silence.  Not a hum, not a laugh, nothing.

He glances between them and - Bayley looks a little wide-eyed, like she hadn't expected  _ this _ to be what Seth wanted to talk about, and Sasha has a hand over her mouth, like she's surprised or trying not to laugh or both.  

Seth, for the second time today, wants the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

"No,"  Bayley finally, thankfully, breaks the silence, her tone cautious and slow. "I don't think so, Seth.  Um, you just - like who you like, that's all." It's diplomatic and genuine at the same time and also the most Bayley answer he's ever heard.

Sasha drops her hand and turns to her friend to give her a  _ look _ and oh god, oh god she has the same look Roman does.  The  _ are you serious? _ makes-you-feel-stupid look and Seth finally understands part of why Bayley sometimes calls her mom.  Oh god. "Are you  _ serious _ ?  He absolutely has a type, look at who he's dated!"

"He doesn't!"  Bayley insists, with a quick look in Seth's direction, like she's checking to make sure she isn't hurting Seth's feelings, and - yep, Seth definitely wants to die now.  This was a terrible idea.

"You're just saying that!"  Sasha accuses, pointing at her, but there's laughter in her voice.  "You're saying that because you don't want to admit that Finn's a little crazy, and you don't want hurt  _ anyone's _ feelings."

Which really . . . it did make sense.  Finn and Bayley were good friends, as close as Bayley and Sasha were or even more so.  When Seth had been with Finn, Bayley had hung out with them a few times, and it was one of the reasons why he'd gotten to know her better.  Bayley knew Finn just as well he did, if not better . . . and maybe asking Bayley, of all people, was a bad idea, because Bayley couldn't say a bad thing about anyone, especially not people like Finn or even Seth, because she didn't have it in her.

Sasha, on the other hand - the two were arguing back and forth, now, Bayley insistent that Finn wasn't crazy, and Sasha trying to convince her that Bayley was biased,  _ completely biased _ , and Seth never regretted an idea more than he did in that very moment.  

"Girls -  _ girls _ ."  He raises voice over their arguing and they stop to look at him, and instead of burying his face in his hands like he so desperately wants to, manages to pull up a smile that almost passes for real instead.  "It's fine, you don't have to argue over this - I just wanted to know, so - uh, thanks." Wow, he almost managed to make that sound genuine, too. "I'm gonna go warm up - I'll see you girls later, all right?"

He waits the right amount of time for their confused (amused) goodbyes, a parting hug from both, and then he escapes down the hallway before the girls can start arguing again.

 

Technically speaking, this wasn't getting out of hand.  But in his  _ head _ it was completely out of hand and it was driving him crazy that maybe there was a tiny inkling of truth to what Roman said.  That Roman was  _ right _ , and he has a type, and it was apparently obvious enough that people close to him noticed.  Was he really into crazy? Wait, but didn't that make him crazy? Didn't you have to be a little crazy yourself to date someone else who was a little crazy?

Holy shit, it was really getting to him.

Just as he's considering finding another, secluded pile of boxes to hide on top of and think all of this out - or really, have a minor crisis over it until he has to find the locker room - he finds himself running into Finn.  Quite literally, he rounds the corner and he's so lost in thought that he walks right into the man and nearly startles out of his skin. But thankfully only one of them is having  _ issues _ today and Finn laughs as he grabs and steadies Seth before the Architect can take an embarrassing spill right there.  "Whoa, easy there. Hey, Seth."

"Finn."  This is terrible.  Not that running into Finn on a normal day is terrible; they hadn't ended things on bad terms by any means, but - in this  _ particular moment _ on  _ this day _ at  _ this very minute _ it was terrible because there was no way out of this encounter without him telling Finn what was going on.  Because Finn, much like Dean, had a  _ way _ of seeing through all of his bullshit and making him talk about what was bothering him.

He was so  _ doomed _ .

"You alright, mate?"  And there it was, Finn was already wasting no time.   _ Doomed _ .  Seth has a few inches on the Irishman, but he was still leaning over to look at Seth.  Mostly because Seth was looking at the floor. "Did something happen? What's up?"

_ Ugh _ .

"I'm."  But maybe . . . maybe this was a blessing in disguise.  If he can figure out a way to word things without offending Finn, without offending the  _ demon _ \- oh god he was going to get  _ eaten alive _ \- then maybe, maybe he could finally prove Roman wrong, and he could do it with the help of someone Roman had named specifically.  And then he could put all of this stupid crap behind him and move on with his fucking life and never have to think about today ever again - 

"Roman thinks you're a little crazy."   
Or the words could pop out before his brain can take over like a fucking idiot.

Finn blinks a few times, and Seth buries his face in his hands, but then Finn bursts into laughter like Seth hadn't said something completely idiotic and had just shared a hilarious joke instead.  "What brought that on?"

"God - nothing, you didn't do anything, it's not like that."  He answers, face still hidden in his hands, making his voice muffled.  "He just - he says I have a type. That's how it came up."

"A type, eh?"  Seth peeks through his fingers and - oh no, Finn's  _ grinning _ at him.  "I didn't know Roman knew we dated."

The ground really needs to devour him any second now.

"I'm glad  _ someone _ finds this funny."  Seth manages to force out, his voice pained, and he drops a hand so the other can pinch the bridge of his nose; Finn continues to grin at him, amused by the whole thing.  "Look, I don't think you're crazy." He adds quickly, because that's something important he needs to get out there before Finn starts thinking - he doesn't know. "And I told him that, so his whole - stupid comment is wrong.  I'm just - "

_ Having a whole freak out over the whole thing _ he finishes quietly, and is very proud of himself for not saying that part out loud.

The expression on Finn's face softens into one of those smiles, though, the kind that was only reserved for Seth, and Seth feels he knees go a little weak, not helped the least bit by Finn patting him on the shoulder.  "That's sweet of you, defending me like that." Finn says, and it's completely genuine. 

"It's not." Seth protests weakly, but Finn continues.  "But I think he might be a bit right."

"Wait - what?"  Oh  _ no _ .

"I mean . . . " Finn shrugs a little helplessly.  He makes a vague gesture, and it's the one that had always meant  _ demon _ whenever they'd spoken of him in the past without actually mentioning him with words.

"Not you too!" If he sounds a little despairing, well, it's because he is.  It's one thing to have two outside parties argue over whether or not Roman was right, but to have  _ someone he dated _ agree with the whole damn thing - that made it true, right?  That makes it true? Oh god, that made him crazy too, didn't it?  He throws his hands up in the air and for the second time this conversation and the fourth time today, wills the ground to do its thing and eat him.

Finn's chuckling, but he reaches up to catch Seth's wrists, tugging them back down and drawing Seth's attention back to him.  "It isn't so bad." He says once Seth's looking at him, and Finn can't help but smile at the expression on Seth's face. "Is this really about defending my sanity, or are you more worried about what it says about you?"

It's the one thing Seth hasn't wanted to think about all day, that every time the whole thing circled to that, he pushed it out of his head and moved onto something else, because he didn't want to think about it.  Finn was always really good at figuring out what was wrong, zeroing on the real issue with unnerving accuracy.

When Seth doesn't answer right away, Finn chuckles and squeezes his wrists before releasing him.  "People've been saying that about you for years, Seth You're just not listening."

"Yeah, but that's - that's in the ring.  That's different." Is his weak, feeble argument.  Because he doesn't want to think about it and he's thinking about it.

"Is it?"  Finn raises an eyebrow at him, a knowing look on his face.  The one that says he can see right through Seth's shit. 

"Shut up." He could be thankful that maybe Finn was right, but that didn't mean he had to  _ like _ it.

"If it's  _ really _ botherin' you that much,"  The gentle tone is back in Finn's voice, and he reaches up to put an arm around Seth's shoulders, turning to walk with him down the hallway towards the locker rooms.  "Talk to Dean about it, too. I bet he'll say the same thing I did." Finn pauses, then chuckles. "More or less."

This wasn't a topic the spoke about, even though they'd remained friends after splitting.  They didn't talk about who they were dating now, and they didn't mention names - it wasn't a rule, but it was more of an unspoken thing, at least to Seth.  But n that moment, Seth was kind of grateful Finn was breaking it, and that Finn was being calm and reasonable and so very  _ Finn _ about this, eve if he was still freaking out a little bit about the whole thing in the back of his head.

At the very least, it helped enough that he'd make it through the rest of the night without saying something stupid to Roman, or to Dean, and he could handle the rest of it later.  Maybe.

He huffs quietly and leans into Finn a little, their hips bumping briefly.  "I hate it when you're reasonable." He mutters, and Finn's arm tightens.

"I know."  He sounds smug, and out of the corner of his eye Seth can see that big smile on his face.

Bastard.

 

Of course,  _ actually _ broaching the topic with Dean - long after the show's over and they're back in their hotel room - isn't as hard as he'd thought it'd be.  Because when he finally  _ does _ speak up about it, stumbling over the words while Dean's watching him with a raised eyebrow and like he's worried it's going in an entirely different direction, Dean laughs at him just like Finn did.

And Seth decides to try to smother himself with a pillow.

"He really said that?"  Seth makes a noise of protest as Dean tries to take the pillow and tries to grab another when Dean's successful, but Dean's faster.  "I mean, he ain't  _ wrong _ , but that's pretty ballsy of him."

"I'm getting real sick of everyone agreeing with him about this."  Seth finds himself muttering, and Dean laughs again as he flops on top of Seth, and despite the noise of protest it pulls from Seth he wraps his arms around Dean anyway.   _ Under protest. _

"So you like 'em a little crazy, I don't see anything wrong with that."  Dean says with a certain tone of smugness in his voice, and he sits up so he's straddling Seth's hips, like it's any other seat in the room, grinning down at him.  It's infectious, and Seth finds himself grinning a little bit too, even as he's rolling his eyes.

" _ You _ wouldn't, you're the crazy one."

"Says the guy who's  _ also _ a little crazy."  

And that's what it's come back to this whole time, especially when Finn had pointed out as directly as he had.  That if he was into the crazy types, it meant he was a little crazy too, and even if he hadn't given it much thought past that, he can't help but make a face.  Dean leans down to kiss him, quick and soft, like he's trying to kiss it away. 

"I'm not crazy."  He protests, less because he believes it and more because he has to.  And maybe because he wants to hear what Dean says about it.

Of course, he immediately regrets it when Dean gives him a  _ look _ and holds up a hand.

"You want me to start listing off every time you've done something crazy?  I can start with FCW - "

"Okay, okay, nevermind!"  Seth grabs his hand before Dean can start, pulling it back down to the bed.  That was a mistake. "I get it, fine, I'm a  _ little  _ crazy.   _ Geez _ ."

Dean chuckles like he's won some kind of argument between them, a mix of smug and fond, but then it's gone and he's looking down at Seth, head tilted.  He turns his hand in Seth's grip so he can lace their fingers together. "This shit's been bothering you all day? Really?"

"Kind of."  It's not  _ technically _ a lie, but Seth wrinkles his nose and shrugs a little helplessly.  "It's been on my mind all day, at least." It's as close to a  _ yes _ that he'll admit to.

"You're an idiot."  Dean huffs with a roll of his eyes, but Seth can't be too insulted because Dean sounds fond, and he squeezes his hand.  "So what if you're a  _ little  _ crazy and that's what you're into?  Just gives us some common ground.." It's a joke, but Seth knows there's more to it than that.  Dean never says things like that without there being more to the words than what's on the outside.  "And - I don't know,  _ crazy _ isn't the top of the list of things I think about when it comes to you anyway, so what does it matter?  You're working yourself over nothing."

He remembers, once, Dean telling him as blunt as frank as ever, that he shouldn't give two shits about what anyone else thinks, no matter if it's the audience or management or him or Roman, and he wonders if that's what Dean means now.  Because - once, it had been easy enough to follow that, almost second nature, but now? What Roman and Dean thought was just as important as anything else.

Dean gives Seth a moment or two to think over what he's said, then adds, because he's Dean: "Next time Ro says something like that, this is what you do - tell him  _ I _ like 'em a little crazy, so he can just shut the fuck up about it, all right?"

Dean doesn't have the same way with words that Finn does; Finn is soothing and gentle, while Dean is brash and blunt, but both have the same effect on Seth, even if they earn different reactions.  Finn would have drawn a smile out of him, slow and small and sincere; Dean's declaration, right now, startles a laugh and a grin out of him, and always does, without fail.

"You're so sweet."  Seth says through his laughter, but in a way that's how Dean  _ is _ sweet.  And just like that, the worry that's stayed with him all day, that lingered a little even after talking to Finn, the rising and falling panic of Roman's throwaway comment is gone.

"I know."  Dean's preening, and Seth rolls his eyes again.  But he pauses, and a little too casual to be anything but: "Did you talk to Balor about this too?"

"I did."  Seth shimmies up a little bit so he can sit up fully, freeing his hand from Dean's so he has both free and can take Dean's face between them and kiss him soundly.  They don't talk about this, just like Finn and Seth don't talk about Dean, but today, for some reason, is breaking all the unspoken rules. "He basically said the same thing you did."

"Huh."  Dean hums it into a second kiss, his hands on Seth's hips, and he can feel Dean's fingers tapping against his skin where his shirt has ridden up, almost thoughtfully.  "Great minds, I guess."

"Great minds."  Seth agrees, a hand sliding to the back of Dean's neck.  He leans in for a third kiss, but pauses. "Are you - it doesn't bother you, does it?  That I talked to him about it? It honestly just kind of happened."

"Nah."  And Seth lets out a quiet breath of relief when Dean gives a faint shake of his head and Seth doesn't feel Dean tense up like he does when he's lying.  "I don't care. You can talk about whatever you want with him." He leers. "You can even - "

"Nope, don't go there."  Seth sees the look and covers Dean's mouth before he can continue, laughing.  "Stop right now."

" _ Fine _ ."

"Good.  Okay, good."  For all that today had been a disaster, he feels . . . relieved now.  Better. 

At least, the urge to smother himself or get swallowed up by the Earth has gone away.

Dean tilts his head, and for the briefest moments there's a touch of serious concern in his eyes.  "All right now? Crisis averted?" Trust Dean to joke about it, even when he's being serious. Seth appreciates that about him, though.

"Yeah, crisis averted."  Dean knew him too well. "Thanks."

"Anytime."  Dean steals one last kiss before he shoves Seth back down to the bed.  " _ So _ , how about we find out how crazy you are, eh?  Now  _ I'm _ curious."

"Oh, you are, are you?"  Seth lets himself be manhandled, laughing a little.  "I thought you already knew? Sounded like you had a list."

"Yeah, but maybe I want a reminder."  Dean grins, and later on, Seth will take a ridiculous amount of satisfaction at the sound of Roman pounding on the wall of their shared rooms, and the annoyed phone call afterwards, and figure that that's suitable enough revenge.


End file.
